Category: Uncategorized

There is so much to report on today. First, I slept in until 9:30 (thank you Lily!) because I was up until 1:30 the night before working. Lily also walked Basil (again thank-you!!). Lily LOVED her walk and was especially taken by all the lilac and blossoms she saw:

All morning Lydia was choreographing dance numbers to a Taylor Swift songs with her siblings. Here is a recording of their performance:

Then I went on a two hour bike ride (And again, thank you Lily!). It was a major highlight of the day for me. I’m obsessed with road biking and all my intense work stress just melted away while I was peddling in the beautiful Utah landscape.

While biking, I stopped in my tracks and hopped off of my bike to take pictures of this dog who looks soooo similar to our dog Basil. Her name is Dotty. She’s an Aussie-doodle (mostly poodle).

While I was gone, Ammon performed to, “I’m Proud to be an American”

As soon as I got home, I took Lydia to her festival competition. Lily was particularly proud of how hard Lydia prepared and said it didn’t even matter to her how the competition went because she was just so proud of all the preparation Lydia put in. I have to say that Lydia has really come into her own with the harp. She’s mature, does her practice, has been focusing hard on improvement, and she is blossoming as a harpist. We are proud of you Lydia! And I’m also so grateful for all Lily has put in to get her here.

I almost felt like crying at the competition because Lydia’s Minuet was so beautiful. Her technique was so good and the song was so emotive. I felt the Spirit, and I felt my heart touched. It was a wonderful moment to experience my daughter playing something so beautiful. After Lydia’s competition, I bought her a harp necklace which I felt she more than earned with all her hard work.

While I was at Lydia’s recital Lily was doing the hard part and took the other three kids to the library to check out books for Mary for her Canada report. I’m guessing Ammon and Clarissa were a handful in the library as they are still at a very chaotic age.

Ate home, we ate an early dinner and I worked on the house for about an hour. I set up crafting tables, cleaned the poop in the yard, purged the kids sock bins (it was so satisfying, I’ve been dying to do it), and took out trashes etc. Lily worked on music with the kids. Here she is practicing with Ammon:

Then Lily and I went swimming with Ammon and Clarissa. Since I already had such a nourishing bike-ride, I happily played with Ammon and Clarissa while Lily swam laps. She said it was so wonderful for her. I had a great time with Ammon and Clarissa. We rotated between the lazy river, the slide (Clarissa can go down herself now, I just help her to the side when she comes out at the end. Also when I lost my glasses coming out of the slide, Ammon found them for me and even dived and got them), and the shallow play area. A good time was had by all.

Then we did some shopping for meals tomorrow, went to the bank, and got burgers.

Today we had Heidi & her kids and Matt and Courtney and their kids over for a dinner party. It was so much fun! A true highlight of the week. I let Clarissa help me put molasses on the pineapple before grilling it which was almost mess free.

When Matt and Courtney arrived, I chatted a lot with Matt outside while he grilled. We talked about interest rates, their new home they are building, campers and cars (and their prices), the stock market and more. I really enjoy chatting with him. For dinner we had amazing chicken tacos, pineapple and Matt and Courtney’s amazing Tres Leches cake for desert. The whole things was so pleasant. When the party was over and everyone went home, Lily and I put the kids down and watched the new episode of “Under the Banner of Heaven.”

Today Lily and I got a slow start because we were up very late the night before. Well, I got a slow start and slept until 10:30, but Lily finished a book while lying next to me. Then I worked out while Lily took Basil on a long walk and we then cleaned the house and got it ready to host our Community of Christ group again.

The gathering was wonderful. Someone who attended had her significant other pass away that week, and it was amazing to process what she was thinking and feeling all together with her. She was very vulnerable and came with a very open, reflective and loving heart and we all felt edified by the time together.

Afterwards we ate dinner with our friend and Pastor Tyler, and then we played Bananagrahms with him, and then we played more games together as a family after he left. All in all it was just a great Sunday.

Today I worked from about 7:30 to 12:30 to get caught up. During that time, Lily took Basil on a 6+ mile walk. The kids were amazing entertaining themselves with making deviled eggs (Lydia), making chocolate chip cookies (Mary), building a fort and dressing in a colonial costume (Ammon), and getting beautified by Lydia (Clarissa).

Then Lily and I took the kids biking. First I spent time with Clarissa trying to help her learn. She gets very scared of trying to peddle and balance on her own, but we are making progress.

Then Lily stayed with Clarissa at the playground while I biked up the Provo river trail with the other kids. It was so fun!!

When we got home, we immediately got ready for a Luau for our friend Micah that his wife Betsy hosted for his birthday. It was so exciting to get to see them because they are some of our favorite people. We all got ready and jumped in the car and left and just before arriving, I asked Ammon a question. It was silent. “Was Ammon asleep?” we asked. Within seconds, we realized that Ammon was not in the car. We immediately turned around and turned to the Alexa and got a hold of him by dropping in. The poor kid was sobbing. We were shocked that we left him and so concerned until we contacted him, but everything turned out ok. He bounced right back and even told us that Basil comforted him. The party outside was so nice, and a great stress reliever after the events with Ammon. We learned about a new wilderness park in Provo, which we loved, loved talking with Betsy and Micah, and enjoy the fantastic weather. A great time was had by all.

I love the way Clarissa announces what she is going to do for her sliding in this video!

Also Lily has been struggling emotionally and feeling down on herself. We found an amazing new Netflix show called Magicians and loved escaping into it for a bit, and then we stayed up talking together. I love sharing life with my soul mate!

Today I dropped Clarissa, Ammon and Mary off at school (Lydia is still sick) and then worked from about 9 AM to midnight. It was a very intense day with a big fire-drill for one of our customers, as well as loads and loads of tasks I’m trying to catch up on as my team tries to turn things around. Lily was super supportive and did the entire kid routine until they went to bed while I was at work. It’s now Saturday morning and I’m still trying to dig out of my work pile! In the middle of all the work though, I did see Ammon’s school play which was a giant bright spot in my day. I was a bit distracted because I was right in the middle of working on the big fire-drill with a customer at work so I was on my phone some, but when it was Ammon’s turn to perform, I checked-in and could help, but to smile. He was dressed as Thomas Jefferson and so into the performance and danced and moved his body much more than anyone else (80% of kids didn’t move at all). He made the whole performance so fun to watch! Jamie, who runs the front desk at Arches, said Ammon was her favorite to watch. I love him!! Also major kudos for the teachers and students who all performed so well. It was a great and very enjoyable production.

I haven’t been sleeping much and I’ve been working extra hard at work trying to get back to a good spot, so I was incredibly tired today. That said, I did have a really nice time at the park pushing Ammon and Clarissa on the swing, chatting with Amy, and relaxing on a tree while Mary had tennis lessons with Emerson and Isabel (Lydia stayed home from school because she wasn’t feeling well). At one point, the kids saw how many of them they could get on the swing….

Lily worked on her book today and researched people’s experiences who are half white and half Filipino as she explores what character she wants to create for her book. Their experiences had a lot in common with Lily’s and a lot of what she learned about others’ experiences was very troubling in terms of the racism.

Lily and I both got good sleep this night, so that was great.

Today Lydia was Clarissa’s beautician. She painted her nails, did her hair etc. What a fun sister!

Today was very busy and stressful for both me and Lily, but it was a good day for sure.

In the evening, I went to see the Jazz game at Qualtrics with Lydia and Clarissa. The Jazz got completely blown out by Dallas, but I still had fun because I love watching basketball so much. Lydia told me she loves watching basketball too (to my delight!). Clarissa at a bunch of popcorn and sweets and then passed out in a chair.

On Sunday I rested, did the budget, did some other work and got organized in the morning. In the afternoon, I rested and cleaned the house with Lily preparatory to our hosting church for the Community of Christ.

The kids were playing all morning. Clarissa was on a computer game and the other kids were making a store of scary things.

Church was incredible! We had 19 adults and talked all about the nature of God with a focus on the divine feminine and Community of Christ’s decision to give women the priesthood (I think in the 1980s). After church, I talked to my pastor Tyler about becoming an official member, which I’m really excited to do. I just am going to take some courses to prepare myself.

In the evening, I shot hoops while the rest of the family watched “Turning Red” again. We love that movie! I’m so grateful Lily is so supportive of my love for the Community of Christ. She loves it too, but still I really feel her support.

Today, Lily and I took a super lazy morning. Then we cleaned the house with the kids and I took the kids to a trampoline park with our friend Todd Covington and his two kids, Casey and Chora. It was too crowded for my liking, and totally chaotic. There was almost no supervision and kids (often too young to know any better) were cutting in line, or going where a jumper was planning to land. It was nuts! But even still, it was such an incredibly good time. The kids were over the moon, and I had fun jumping and playing on the obstacles a little bit too. It was also so nice to talk to Todd who I haven’t caught up with in a while. Here are a couple cute videos of Clarissa:

https://youtube.com/shorts/JhSPxnl8WRQ?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/JhSPxnl8WRQ?feature=share

At home, I made veggie burgers for everyone. I burned them, but everything was still delicious. We then had everyone shower and we watched “Turning Red” as a family. We all loved it!

After putting everyone down to bed, Lily and I walked again. This time, it was Lily who was really stressed, and she did most of the talking while I listened. She did a lot of research about travel in Mumbai, and that on top of everything else hitting her right now had her really overwhelmed. After walking we watched Madam Secretary together, which is so good!